A Telecommunications Network is typically comprised of several switches. As will be explained below in greater detail, switches are used to establish pathways between callers and contain tables of data forming a relational database. As demand for Telecommunications Network services increases, so too does the processing requirements of switch transactions. It is becoming common for multiple switches to service a single calling region. This means that an originating call could be processed by one of several originating switches.
As more entities enlist the services provided by telecommunications companies, the likelihood of fraudulent use of such services increases as well. The probability of innocent mistakes by customers also increases. For instance, as more people sign up for long-distance service, the number of people eventually canceling service or changing carriers also increases. When a person cancels long-distance service, that person should no longer be permitted to access the long-distance network. If the caller is serviced in an area with multiple switches, then it is possible that multiple switches will have to be updated with new data to block the caller's call. In the past if five switches need to be updated, then five separate transactions were required to accomplish the updates. There is a need to be able to update many switches in response to a single transaction.
At any give time, a switch may have many transactions to process. Processing these transactions efficiently and timely is desirable to maintain bandwidth on the Telecommunications Network. One method of efficiently processing switch transactions is to batch the transactions into a file and present the file to the switch as a single transaction to process. This method greatly decreases the time of processing individual switch transactions. However, now that transactions can be sent, or be dependent upon multiple switches, there exists a need to implement a batching scheme where individual transactions, or parent transactions, are to be processed by multiple switches. The present invention also provides a new and useful way of processing such switch transactions by batching the transactions even when the transactions are bound for multiple switches.
Technology-based industries offer a host of products and services that involve the specific configuration or programming of various computing devices. The logic that is implemented on these computing devices are driven by business requirements. These business requirements change rapidly in response to competition, consumer needs and other such dynamics. An industry that exemplifies these characteristics is the telecommunications industry.
Telecommunications companies offer a wide variety of services to homes, businesses, and other organizations. These services require a wide range of sophisticated computing devices, including communications devices such as switches, routers and a host of other components. Examples of such telecommunications switches include the Telcordia Service Manager, Lucent Autoplex 1000, and the Nortel DMS-250.
Switches typically support and include a number of data tables. The tables are for such things as customer information, routing data, and network architecture information. The number of tables depends upon the type of switch and can vary greatly, for instance, from eight tables for one particular type of switch to more than thirty tables for another particular type of switch.
The ability for a telecommunications company to offer expanded services, upgrades, and to prevent unauthorized use of its networks is dependent upon its ability to quickly and cost-effectively implement business requirements. As described above, if a customer cancels service from a long-distance carrier, that customer's phone number should not be permitted to originate long-distance telephone calls. A billing number can be associated with the originating party's call. The billing number is the primary telephone number used for billing regardless of the number of telephone lines associated with that number. Automatic Number Identification (ANI) provides for the transmission of the billing number of the originating party through the network. ANI information can include the billing number as well as the telephone number of the originating party. ANI transactions allow for the authentication of originating calls. As various fraud schemes develop and other malicious attempts to access a Telecommunications Network without authorization increase so too does the need to process a growing number of ANI transactions. It is feasible that a telecommunications company may need to process an ANI transaction for each call attempting to access its network.
As described above, some current densely populated geographic areas, such as those within the state of New York, already have up to four switches that can service an originating party's call. A specific switch, sometimes called a home-switch, can be designated as the default switch to service an originating party's call request. If, however, the home-switch is sufficiently burdened with other transactions, then a caller's call may be processed by an alternative switch in the caller's region. Accordingly, all four switches must be updated. Thus, there exists a need to more efficiently update multiple switches.
Similarly, ANI transactions may have to take place on each of the four switches each time the originating party attempts to initiate a call. Any of the four switches can become overburdened with transactions to process. Such a switch is said to be in distress. When a switch is distressed, the wait time processing a new transaction can reach unacceptable levels.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a system and method to automatically update multiple switches on a Telecommunications Network based on a single transaction. There also exists a need for optimizing the processing of switch transactions when those transactions may have dependencies on multiple switches.